


Only Want You

by Duster6789



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 21:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21204584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duster6789/pseuds/Duster6789
Summary: Arya Stark is a pop princess and Gendry is a sound technician.I have used Rita Ora’s music back catalogue as a basis for Arya’s career because her songs have taken a pretty Gendrya route lately and besides she’s really talented so why not.





	1. Back Then

The story of Arya Stark was interesting. She grew up in an English village, the daughter of a Lord, but had no interest at all in aristocracy. Instead, she spent most of her time in the village after school with friends. Her father allowed her to go to a public high school because he knew the headmaster and preferred for her to be under his watchful eye than hanging out with her friends in the evenings and not getting home until late. The school had an excellent performing arts department and that was why she was there. She had written some music in school and her rich father wanted to encourage her interests.

Gendry was 20 years old doing an apprenticeship as a sound technician and had a placement in a recording studio where her father had booked her some recording time. There was only five years between them in age but she playfully made him feel old and he would playfully call her m’lady because it annoyed her. He liked her! By the end of the day, he had helped her to produce a couple of songs that she felt proud of and they parted as friends.

After that, Gendry worked pretty much exclusively with a band called the Brotherhood Without Banners as they recorded their first album. The process took months and he created a bond with them. They were likeminded men and would often go for a beer after a long day in the studio. One day, they asked about what other work he had done.

“Honestly, Mott didn’t trust me at first because I was a new apprentice so he gave me one assignment with a fifteen year old rich girl. She was really good! I played her music to him and then he gave me the job with you guys because he liked it that much.”

“A pop princess is the only other person that you have worked with?” Said Beric, the band’s frontman, as he laughed. “Can we listen? Is that allowed?”

“Yeah, it’s saved on my computer.”

He played his favourite song to the band, a little embarrassed because it wasn’t their style, but the rock band gave her a fair chance.

“She has an edgy voice! I’m surprised you say she’s fifteen. Did she write that song?”

“Yeah, she’s quite impressive isn’t she?”

Beric gave him a look, “don’t be falling in love with any Earl’s daughter. That will not end well.”

“She’s too young for that. I was just surprised by her that’s all. We became friends. I think she could do well.”

“Does she want to make a career out of this? I know a guy who is looking for someone feature on a dance track. She might suit it!”

He made the call, between Gendry and Beric the connection was made between Arya and this DJ but it was over a year before he heard it on the radio. That song was her breakthrough. Before he knew it, Gendry saw and heard Arya everywhere! She was on billboards and releasing singles. She was a star at 18 years old. She had been signed by an independent label started by a rapper called The Hound in the US and he heard she had moved there too. Her edgy voice had prompted the album to have an edgy sound and they made her a sexy, party loving rebel in image to match the music. He couldn’t help but think that this was nothing like the girl he met and none of the music felt as honest as what she had written at 15 years old.

He never expected to see her again.


	2. The Music Festival

Gendry hadn’t even thought of Arya for a few years. She had disappeared from the limelight for a while before he heard in the tabloids that she was dating Dornish DJ Ned Dayne and she came out with a couple of non-album singles. He liked her newer music a bit more because he felt like these songs were more likely to mean something to her because she had written and produced them with her boyfriend. Then he heard that they had moved in together and weeks later split up. Another couple of years passed and she had released nothing more than collaborations with other artists. She was well loved in the industry with lots of friends but where was album number 2?

Gendry’s own life was hardly news worthy. He finished his apprenticeship and started touring with the Brotherhood Without Banners as their sound technician. His love life was non-existent, he had no family apart from a half sister who lived miles away and so giving up his flat and touring was an easy decision to make. Life on the road was fun but he had no commitments and nowhere to lay his roots.

It was at a music festival that he ran into Arya Stark again and was amazed beyond belief that she remembered him.

“Gendry? Is that you?!”

He turned to look at her. He had only seen her in music videos and on airbrushed billboards for years, in person he saw her flaws and the girl that she used to be in her eyes. She was so much more beautiful this way.

“The famous Arya Stark! Look at you. I didn’t know you were performing this weekend.”

“I was on earlier, I’m just hanging out for the day,” she looked a little embarrassed before continuing, “I looked better before but I’m sick of stage make up and outfits so I’m in my scruffy clothes now.”

“I like you better this way, m’lady.”

Her eyes flicked up at him at the memory of their day together all that time ago and a devilish grin spread across her face. She smacked his arm and laughed. “I think I very successfully got away from the life as a Lady, don’t you think? I’m seen as a rebel and a bit of a minx now. My Father finds it hilarious but my Mother is still a bit old fashioned.”

Gendry was laughing along with her without even noticing. His behaviour reflecting hers, “you’re still just another rich girl.”

She stopped laughing and looked at him hard, a hint of her smile remaining. Gendry realised that she looked something close to upset. “I’m sorry, did I cross a line there?”

“No, not at all. You just remind me of the ambition that I used to have. I didn’t choose the image that I was given. I’ve had to wear someone else’s face for years. I wish I had more honest people like you around.” The pair shared a silence which was filled with understanding but the longer it went on, it became a little awkward. Arya noticed, “so why are you here? Are you a fully fledged technician now?”

“Yeah I’m touring with the Brotherhood Without Banners. I don’t really have to work here because they have techs hired by the venue so I’m just watching and enjoying my backstage pass.”

“I love The Brotherhood. Mind if I tag along with you for a bit? I was going to watch my friend perform later but she’s not on for an hour so I’m at a bit of a loose end.”

“Shall we grab a drink and watch the alternative stage for a bit?”

“That sounds great.”

Gendry bought the drinks. She was a Lady and a pop princess but he still believed in chivalry. Their way with each other was free and easy... and at times a bit flirtatious but he thought maybe he was imagining that. They watched her friend together and then he assumed Arya would continue her party with them but she chose to stay with him and she barely drank. She was nothing like the party loving persona he was led to believe she had become.

“If you don’t mind me saying- I liked the songs that you did with Ned Dayne. They were fun and meaningful,” Gendry dared to tell her. He was aware that bringing up an ex was risky but he knew she was proud of her achievements and wanted to let her know that he had taken an interest it her career.

“Thanks... it was a shame what happened with Ned. He inspired me to write my first love song. Or I thought it was a love song anyway. In hindsight, I was just saying that I cared. I saw that he wasn’t enjoying the fame that comes with being a talented DJ and I wanted him to be happy. I called it ‘I Will Never Let You Down’ but I feel like I did just that in the end. I just didn’t love him enough. Sad really isn’t it?”

“I would call that brave. You put him first and then ended it when you realised it would be the kindest thing to do,” he told her.

“You think I’m brave and kind? I think I’m cold and weak.”

“Well, trust me, whoever is making you feel that way needs firing.”

She looked down and smiled, obviously thinking something meaningful as a result of what he had said. “You know what? We have known each other for two days over the span of... what... 6 years? And I think you might know me better than anyone else. Give me your phone.” He passed it to her obediently because her words had struck him and he hadn’t quite recovered yet. She saved her number in his contacts and rang herself for one ring so that she would have his. “Will you stay in touch? Let me know if you’ll be at any more festivals, it would be nice to run into you again. I have to go. Thank you for today.”

She stood on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek and he smiled at her and gave a small wave. As he watched her walk away, he felt a strange pang in his gut like he was going to miss her. He immediately felt ridiculous and went to find the Brotherhood.


	3. And Then...

He had done as he was told. There was something authoritative about Arya Stark that made him think he should always obey her. He text her frequently, while still leaving enough time in between messages for her to know that he was a busy man.

When the tour with The Brotherhood ended, he moved in with his half-sister Bella because he had left his few belongings at her house. He managed, by some miracle (or because Beric had pulled some strings) to get a job as a music producer, which was more than he was qualified for, in a studio near Bella’s house. Bella was a single mother and so he found himself helping out with his niece. It helped that the kid was adorable and so well behaved that he couldn’t believe she was Bella’s daughter. Her name was Barra and she brought out a paternal side to him that he didn’t know that he had. He decided to lay his roots in a house just up the road from Bella and Barra. He found himself telling Arya all about his little domestic life, convinced that he was boring her.

Arya was back in the tabloids. She was suing her record label for breach of contract and loss of earnings. She had been writing music for years and they had been telling her that nothing was good enough for a second album. She was tied into a five album contract with them but they were refusing to release albums. She had told Gendry that she had him to thank for her sudden bravery and he told her that it had always been there, just they had tried to squash it out of her. She was tough.

Once the lawsuit was over she told him that she wanted him to produce her second album and she wanted to come back home to England.

The flirtation that he thought he had imagined at the music festival turned to electricity as soon as they began to work together. He knew he was completely out of his depth because he loved her far too quickly. The moment that he woke up with her in his bed, he was imagining his marriage proposal and how he would ask an Earl for permission to marry her. The songs that she wrote were real love songs from the heart and together they produced the honest album that she had always wanted to release.

Then he asked her to be in a real relationship with him... and she said no. She wanted to find her feet in the music industry again, on her own terms, by herself. Then she left for her tour and he was left heartbroken.

He hated her for a while. She had a huge hit collaborating with a man who used to be in a boy band and the song was for the soundtrack of a highly anticipated film. The fame of her, him and the film made the song completely inescapable and all it did make his heartbreak worse.

Barra was a huge fan of hers. Of course she was. Gendry didn’t have the heart to shatter the illusions of his niece’s idol to her. So he didn’t. When Arya toured, Gendry contacted his friend Hot Pie (they had met during the album production) from her team and he hooked him up with tickets. Gendry had insisted on tickets, he didn’t want to go on a guest list and risk Arya knowing that he would be there.

It didn’t go to plan.

While queuing outside of the venue with Barra, Hot Pie was running an errand and spotted Gendry. Hot Pie was a lovely guy and a faithful friend but there were things that he just didn’t understand. His relationship with Arya was one of them. Hot Pie was Arya’s personal assistant and so had been at the album recording studio every day and had no idea that she was spending every night in Gendry’s bed, he didn’t ask why Gendry didn’t want to go on the guest list and therefore didn’t remember that Gendry did not want to go backstage. When he offered to take them backstage in front of an excited Barra, there was no way that he could say no.

Barra met her idol and Arya doted on her. Gendry sat in a corner avoiding Arya’s gaze because, even now, he was too angry to speak to her. Barra returned to him when Arya was greeting her other guests and Hot Pie offered them refreshments. Barra was so excited that he told her not to eat too much in case she was sick.

He turned around and his smile faded upon seeing grey eyes in front of him. Arya had snuck up on him when he wasn’t paying attention. She placed something into his hand and gave him a serious look. The one that gave authority and made him obey as always. He looked at what she had given him to find a hotel room key card and the card wallet that is provided with them when they are issued. On the card she had written a note, “I was wrong and I want to talk about it. I’m sorry. Come and see me after the show. Please. Your Arya x”

She was called away and Gendry took Barra to their seats. He felt a nervous anticipation throughout the whole show, unsure of whether to go see her after he dropped off Barra back home. He still loved her, he knew that much, but he hadn’t forgiven her. He thought she was a coward for running away from him and hiding behind her career... but he knew he was powerless to her. She said jump and he asked how high.

His struggle became more complicated when she announced to the crowd that she was going to perform two new songs. One was called Let You Love Me and the other was called Only Want You. Both songs had lyrics that told of her self sabotaging and running away when relationships got too real. Gendry felt like she was talking to him. She wished that she could let him love her, she didn’t want anyone like him, she only wanted him. In some ways the songs only made him slightly angrier at their ridiculous situation. Of course, he didn’t even know if the songs were written by her or heartfelt or about him. The only way to find out would be to meet her that night.

————————————

Arya unwound after her show the same way that she always did. She had a drink with the band and the dancers and the rest of the team. Then she had a quick shot of tequila with Hot Pie, a tradition that they started a while ago to give her closest friend a small moment of extra attention before sneaking away to have a relaxing bath and watch something on TV before she fell asleep.

Only this night wasn’t like the other nights. Hot Pie had done a great job at bringing Gendry to the show and getting him backstage without him really wanting to be there. She had planned various speeches and grand acts for her to declare her love to him for when she would eventually see him again but she didn’t plan for Barra to be there. She had thought that if Gendry saw Arya giving his niece affection then he might warm to her but he wasn’t even watching. Instead she just fell for little Barra’s charms and befriended her for her own benefit and not Gendry’s. 

The decision to give him her key card was bold but she didn’t have time to write a long heartfelt note and she didn’t think he would have read it anyway. He was so stubborn. When she saw him smiling at his niece as he fussed over her eating, Arya knew she had to do something and all she had nearby was her bag with her essentials in: lipstick and eyeliner for touching up her make up, her key card and a pen. She knew that the hotel would issue her another card with no problem and so she wrote a note which said the first things that popped into her mind and handed it to him.

And now, all the relaxing baths in the world couldn’t stop her from feeling nervous anticipation, which was slowly replaced by sadness as time passed.

She was in bed trying to sleep, having given up hope, when he walked in. Even standing in front of her, he looked unsure of his decision and her heart soared and broke at the same time.

She didn’t know what to start with, she had too many thoughts to say everything at once but something told her that she knew what he wanted to hear. “I wrote those new songs for you. I don’t know if you could hear the lyrics.”

It must have been what he needed to hear because it made him take large, sure footsteps towards her and then they were kissing. She didn’t deserve it and she knew it but here he was. She would find a way to make it work, she had fit into his routine before and she was due to record another album soon, he could tour with her if he wanted to.

All that mattered was that she loved him and he loved her. Everything else could be worked out.


End file.
